The Sarasota and Manatee county markets for condos & townhomes remain disconnected for properties between $600k and $1M. In Manatee, it is better to be a buyer; however, the market is balanced in Sarasota. While the $1M+ condo market in Sarasota has favored sellers all year, this is just the second month that we have also seen it happening in Manatee.
The table below groups all condos & townhomes over $600k into one bucket due to limited transactions above $1M in Manatee. It shows a snapshot for market conditions in both counties.
Markets are generally considered in “balance” when there is about six months of inventory for sale at the current pace of sales. When the inventory gets greater than that, buyers tend to have more leverage than sellers in negotiations. When the table shows a “buyer’s market,” it means there is more than seven months of inventory in the market. In that situation, buyers should have at least some level of negotiating power in condo and townhome purchases.
As previously noted, I grouped data for condos and townhomes over $1M with the properties over $600k as there aren’t that many condos over $1M available, especially in Manatee. However, if I were to include a separate grouping for $1M+ condos in both counties, you would see that there just under five months of inventory available in Sarasota and around five and a half months in Manatee (at the current pace of sales). That means that Sarasota is a seller’s market while Manatee is in balance. Quite frankly, the Sarasota luxury market for condos has been scorching for quite some time while the Sarasota luxury market for single family homes continues to be mired in a deep buyer’s market.
If you want more specific details for your condo or townhome, or if you are looking for information on potential places to move, just let me know.